With cases rising in area, Southern Seven resumes daily report on COVID-19

Southern Seven Health Department this week resumed a daily update about COVID-19 cases in the area it serves.

The health department serves Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Alexander, Pulaski and Massac counties.

In recent weeks, the health department had been issuing a weekly update about COVID-19 cases in the area.

Due to a continuing rise in positive COVID-19 cases in the region, the health department decided to bring back a daily reporting of numbers. The numbers will include positive tests reported to the health department over the weekend.

“This will continue until further notice,” Southern Seven Health Department contact tracing outreach coordinator Nathan Ryder said on Monday.

Based on numbers reported as of Monday, “we are on a pace to once again surpass last week’s positive case totals in a short amount of time,” Ryder said.

The health department continues to encourage area residents to get a COVID-19 vaccine and to follow basic mitigation procedures, which include wearing a mask, watching your distance and washing your hands frequently.

Southern Seven Health Department on Monday reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 in Union County. 

The cases involved one person under 10, three teens, two in their 20s, one in the 30s, three in their 40s, four in their 50s, two in their 60s, one in the 70s and two 80-plus years old.

The numbers were provisional and subject to change. 

As of Monday, Union County had recorded a total of 2,344 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. A total of 2,257 recovered cases were reported. 

As of July 16, there were 55 active cases in the county. A total of 32 deaths had been reported in the county since the start of the pandemic.

Southern Seven Health Department shared the following update on cases in the region, as of Monday:

40 newly confirmed cases. 18 newly recovered. 108 total active cases. 103 total deaths. 7,167 cumulative total cases.